Bad Day Far Behind for Alomar : Padres: Would you believe it? Two years ago, they sent him down.

"I remember every single detail of that day. Everything. Maybe someday I'll forget. But when bad things happen, you tend to remember everything."

It was two years ago today, in a smoked-filled room at the Ray Kroc Complex, that the decision was made.

Roberto Velazquez Alomar was going to be sent down to the minors.

The only question: Who would tell him?

This was a kid who was hitting .360 in spring training. He was superb in the field. He stole the hearts of everyone who watched him.

But after determining that a 20-year-old was too immature to inherit the Padres' starting second base job, Manager Larry Bowa and President Chub Feeney told Alomar the following day. The reaction was uncontrollable tears. Alomar was left alone with his sorrow in the training room, trying to regain his composure.

"Everybody knew that Robbie got a raw deal," said former Padre infielder Tim Flannery, "but that's the nature of the business. I remember going into the trainer's room that day and just saying, 'Keep your head up. The right time will come for you. You're going to be playing a long, long time in the big leagues. You're not even going to remember this day.' "

You don't think this is a crazy business?

In the time it has now taken Alomar to reach the ripe old age of 22, Bowa and Feeney have been fired, Flannery has retired and Alomar has emerged as one of the better second basemen in the game.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" Flannery said. "There's no one like him. There's not many guys I'd go pay and watch play, but this kid's worth the price of admission any day."

For a guy who's barely old enough to buy a drink and still can't purchase so much as a beer without being carded, he's as much a key to the Padres' success as anyone.

Lest you forget, it was Alomar who batted .326 in July, .321 in August and .365 in September last season. It was Alomar who finished runner-up in the Silver Bat award among second baseman with his .295 average, 56 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. And it was Alomar who finished runner-up for the Gold Glove, with his range helping disguise a league-high 28 errors.

The only flaw in this guy's resume is that it'll be 43 more years before he starts drawing a full pension.

"People are already telling me I'm going to be in the Hall of Fame, and I'll be so rich," Alomar said, "but I just smile and nod my head. I'm not going to go around saying, 'Robbie Alomar is a great second baseman.' If you guys want to say it, go right on ahead, but leave me out of it.

"I'm the same guy I always was, it's just the thing that I've always dreamed for is coming true."

Maybe if he hadn't started having this dream 20 years ago, he would realize the significance of his meteoric rise through baseball. But when you've dedicated your whole life to the sport well before the senior prom, why should you be surprised by success.

"All Roberto ever said was how much he wants to play baseball," said Maria Alomar, Roberto's mother. "I told him, 'Robbie, it's not so easy.' But he says to me, 'Mama, I want to play baseball in the major leagues. If I don't, I'll cry.'

"That's all he ever thought about. He didn't even play any other sports. I'm telling you, it was his life.

"I remember one night I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning. I got up to go to the bathroom. The light was on in Roberto's room. I opened the door, and there he was, exercising. Can you believe it?

"I think the hardest day in his life was when Sandy (Roberto's father) finished his career in Texas. Robbie cried, he cried so much. He said, 'Dad, I want you to keep playing. Please play.' "

Said Sandy Alomar, now the Padres' third-base coach: "When I was with the Angels, Robbie was 2 years old. He knew all of the Angels' players by their numbers. I could say a number, and he'd tell who it was.

"When I had to punish him, I never had to spank him. All I had to do was take his bat and glove away.

"There was no doubt in his mind, and eventually mine, he was going to be a big-league ballplayer."

Little did Sandy Alomar, or anyone else for that matter, realize just how good he might become.

Keep in mind that Sandy Alomar was a pretty fair second baseman in his day, playing 15 years in the big leagues and earning an All-Star berth in 1970.

Well, in two full seasons, his kid has driven in more runs than Sandy did in eight and hit more homers than he did throughout his entire career.

"People ask me to compare us," Sandy Alomar said, "but what's there to compare? There's no comparison. He's bigger. He's stronger. He's faster. There's nothing left any more."

Alomar, who will become the first Padre since Juan Bonilla (1981-1983) to be the opening day second baseman in consecutive seasons, has just one regret.

His brother, Sandy Jr., won't be along to see him.